Writing From the Inside

Factum Amoris by Lenore.

Slash.

I read this one a while back, when I had just started reading fanfic for SPN, to see if I could see what it was all about. At the time, I hadn’t liked the story, thought the premise of an enchanted sod house that trapped kids to sacrifice them for the harvest was a bit stretching it. Then, after reading many, many fics, I realized the theme of “we have to do it to save you/me/each other” was quite common. To shorten that title, I’ll call it the sex to save theme. Not badly done here, and their reactions after seem sane in that they realize that it’s not quite right what they’re doing.

Written on the Body by Traveller.

Gen.

Found another one by traveller. A character study of Dean that’s not a story, but contains some nice ideas. One is the last birthday party he remembers, from when he was four. Such a sad little memory, and he’s got nothing else. No other birthday parties. Then he starts marking birthdays in other ways, like by getting a tatoo. And the argument he has with his Dad over Sam almost getting a tatoo was pretty good too.

Plus One by the highwaywoman.

Slash.

I didn’t know you could fuck the hissy out of someone. This gave me a GOOD laugh.

Shoot Out the Lights by whereupon.

Slash.

There’s no plot to this, no dialog, no structure, but man. The imagry. The character voices. The angst shoots out of this like rockets.

Here’s a tidbit:

“Because Sam’s jeans are low on his hips and the headlights are the only artificial light in sight. Cracked wet asphalt glitters like razors in the weeds. Dean runs a quick hand across his car and his smile is like shrapnel and then they get inside and Sam has never seen Dean broken, but he thinks it would look something like this. His head ringing with adrenaline. The sound of fear. His eyes stained with anger.

And Dean’s hands tighten around the steering wheel and he says, you know.”

You know what? What the hell is the writer talking about? I don’t know. I just know it hits me, somewhere deep inside.

Sharing a Room with His Brother by Roxie Ann.

Slash.

This one made me laugh from the start, because Sam is so annoying when Dean is trying to sleep. It was this:

“Dean crept into bed, years of experience and experiences (all bad) prompting him not to jostle and wake the person lying next to him. Though he highly doubted that Sam was asleep in the first place. He had to wonder if Sam ever slept. Or if Sam just pretended to because that was what they did. But tonight Dean was going to have hope. That Sam was as exhausted as he was and that they would both sleep through the night - peacefully even.

He should have trusted his gut instinct, because Sam hadn’t been asleep. As soon as Dean’s head hit his pillow, Sam’s eyes opened. And so did his mouth.

“We’ll have to get up at 7 if we’re going to be in New Mexico by the end of the day.”

This is so Sam. The rest of the story follows suit, but nothing is as strong as this opening.  

Out of Focus by shadow-shimmer.

Slash.

Want to smoke now. That is all. (Okay, it’s not. This story is so in character is scary. Dean is right on, the boys are having troubles, they argue, and the arguing turns to you know what. But they never drop character.)

Lead Us Not Into Temptation by joyfulgirl41

Slash.

Oh. I don’t want to admit it, I really don’t, but when I finished this one, a shiver ran up my spine. You know, like in the stories? Like fingers. Like a mouse had run up me. Ficlets should not have the power to do this, they really shouldn’t. It’s a story about temptation and the point when temptation becomes a choice you cannot deny. Kudos to this writer, I thought I was too jaded for a reaction like that.

In the Stillness by Amiss.

Slash.

Short, too short. It makes me sigh. Why are all these stories so short? Still, this one is nice, with another little nugget here. Dean as caregiver, giving to Sam who is lonely. Sam cannot resist because he is so lonely, misses Jess so.

It’s basically summed up by this:

“He tried to stop this the first time, and the second, but when he’s honest he knows that he didn’t try very hard, really, because Dean’s warm and he loves him and Sam’s always so fucking cold lately.”

Poor Sammy.

Landmarks by estrella30.

Slash.

Not a real story, more of a ficlet, but containing a gem of an idea, that of memory as geography. Some people know dates and names, but Dean tells his story by where he’s been and what he did there. Whereas Sam knows Route 40 in Tulsa, or wherever. The way people remember things isn’t good or bad, per se, but it does say something about them. I liked this idea here, had done a paper on it for Linguistics, about people’s ways of telling direction, or marking events. I once, way back, as a delivery gal, worked with this guy who told directions by Dairy Queens. Go up through Ft. Collins, he’d say, and take a right at the Dairy Queen. Or, go two miles past the Dairy Queen right outside of town, then go left. This is what started me off on my linguistics journey. He didn’t realize he was doing it and seemed quite shocked when I pointed it out to him. (Turns out he was chowing down on Blizzards at every stop.) So I kept it going, giving my directions by the various McDonalds. It was the summer of the 99 cent Big Mac, and being a Big Mac fan (back then) I did a lot of stopping myself. It was a great summer, which is probably why I liked this ficlet!

Turn the Page by gilascave.

Gen.

What an odd little story. Some of it I liked, some of it I didn’t. Never understand why so many writers insist on giving Dean kids scattered all over the place, like his daddy never taught him how to be careful. What was great in this story was how Sam was. He was a great character here, honest and pissed off and kicking Dean awake so that Dean can do his share in making the motel room safe. Just what Dean would do to him. That was it. Such a weird little story. Not badly written, just weird.